Baked Vegan Falafel

Can we just address how easy it is to make falafel. I mean, not only are they totes healthy right, they’re just a few ingredients, some spices, and in the blink of an eye, they’re done and gone. They go with everything too! Salads, pasta dishes, you can make burgers out of them, the creativity and possibilities are endless when it comes to these rounded beauties.

For those who don’t really quite know what a falafel is, well it’s pretty simple. Falafel are made up of chickpeas, mostly. However, they can be made up of lentils or split peas. A lot of healthy food bloggers will spice things up and use beans, or other legumes or seeds they see fit. But originally, it’s the chickpea or garbanzo bean. And why yes, chickpea is also what makes up hummus! Whatta-ya-know, it’s a diverse little seed.

There are no tricks involved to making these. I used my food processor to ground up the chickpeas and other ingredients, gave it a pulse, whirl, what have you, and bam…incredible edible. What’s really awesome is you can eat them “raw” before you bake them. Ok so you can leave them raw, bake, or fry them. I chose to keep some raw and to bake some, either way totally amaze and full of healthy awesome flavor. It’s 2016, what other way would we roll. 😉

There are a few different varieties in the sense of what seasonings to add, what other veggies should go with it, but I just kept it basic. Chickpeas, fresh cilantro, fresh parsley, a few fresh garlic cloves, a red onion, sesame seeds, onion powder, garlic powder, cumin, salt/pepper to taste (as usual), a bit of lemon juice, gluten free brown rice flour, and a tad of extra virgin olive oil. Like seriously with the ingredients riiight.

When all your ingredients are in the processor, pulse, scrape down the sides when necessary, and when it sticks together, you can create palm size falafel balls. Your tastebuds are gonna be like whoa, hello. 🤗

You can preheat your oven to 400F and line a standard baking sheet with parchment paper. Place your falafel balls on the prepared pan and brush the tops of each one with extra virgin olive oil.

This will give them a bit more crunch when baked. I didn’t turn mine over in the oven or anything, I just let them bake a full 30 minutes. You can leave them in longer if you’d like so they are a bit more browned and crisp on the edges.

I did not use a any sort of scoop for them either. I just eyed the size I wanted and patted them with my hands to the shape. I swear it’s as though they were meant to be falafel because they look almost perfect.

A fantastic side to these gems is a vegan tzatziki sauce or cucumber “yogurt” sauce, like what you would get on a gyro except obvi, it’s vegan.

Falafel is traditionally a Middle Eastern food, commonly served in a pita. But feel free to throw these in any dish you deem fit. The more veggies in anything, the better. Now go get your falafel on and thank me laterz. ✌🏻

14 comments

I just made these and the mixture is way too wet. I reread the ingredients and directions 3 times and know I followed them correctly. Did you mistakenly forget to put that the cans of chickpeas need to be drained? Is there a way I can fix these so I don’t waste all of these ingredients?

Hi Lindsay, you’re not suppose to use the liquid from the chickpeas in this recipe. I didn’t think I needed to write that as it’s the obvious thing to do, drain as per usual. If you used the liquid from the can then yes it would be overly wet.

Hi Alex, I don’t see tahini in this recipe I just see 1 tbsp sesame seeds. You can omit that.

Hi Jennifer – An update on how the garbanzo flour worked. Awesome – So easy to put together and make. And, the vegan tzatziki sauce, yum! Look forward to trying out more of your delicious and simple recipes – Thank you for sharing!!

Amy, that is so awesome to hear! I will try it with the garbanzo flour myself. The tzatziki I make at least once a week, it’s popular in my house and the perfect dip. I’m so glad you love everything. Thank you! Many Blessings 😊🙏🏻

Hi Amy,thank you!! I think any flour would work. Keep me posted!! Xx

I love falafel but hate that when you get it at restaurants, it’s fried 99% of the time. I’ve made falafel waffles before where I changed a “real” recipe and made it in a waffle iron instead of frying, but this seems even easier. I’ll be giving this and the bliss bowls a try tomorrow. Thanks for not frying these! 🙂

Hi Adrianne, thank you! I totally understand what you mean about them being overly fried all the time. To me they taste much better baked and not doused in oil. These are super simple to make and you can even eat them “raw” because they’re totally vegan. Enjoy!! Xx